Self-help and Mutual Aid Action for Foreign Students Affected by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake

Abstract

Purpose: In the event of a disaster, foreign residents are considered vulnerable as "persons requiring evacuation assistance" or "persons requiring special consideration". Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office's disaster prevention and mitigation activities follow a basic policy focused on "self-help" and "mutual aid," and its implementation for foreign residents during disasters has been attracting attention. Identifying feasible self-help and mutual aid actions to prepare for natural disasters is an urgent issue to protect the lives and health of foreign residents in Japan. The purpose of this study was to clarify the self-help and mutual aid behaviors of affected international students in Japan during the difficult circumstances they face in the wake of a disaster. Methods: The study subjects were four international students who were affected by the Kumamoto earthquake in April 2016. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate their situations and behaviors during the difficult period after the disaster. Interviews were conducted in Japanese or English, with an average interview time of 42 minutes. The analysis followed a qualitative descriptive approach targeting the extracted categories and subcategories. The survey period was from November 2018 to February 2019. Results: All subjects had never experienced a disaster in their home country or earthquake in Japan prior to the event. The subjects had been in Japan for only two to three years and had not undergone any training for disaster prevention and mitigation. Half of the subjects had difficulty communicating in Japanese. The international students' self-help actions in the aftermath of the disaster were grouped into two categories of "overcoming language barriers" and "escaping from the disaster area" as well as six subcategories. Mutual aid behaviors were grouped into four categories of "being helpful to others," "opening one's heart," "participating in the community," and "contributing to the community" as well as 11 subcategories. Conclusion: International students were able to solve various difficulties that arose during the chaotic aftermath of a disaster by taking proactive actions in response to their surrounds. The results could serve as useful clues for solving various problems that arise in emergency situations, regardless of nationality or gender. They provide knowledge and universal lessons for all types and scales of disasters from the perspective of self-help and mutual aid.